Monday, June 23, 2008

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

Taking a cab home, driver needed to cut the run short for an emergency. I said sure, no problem, will get 2nd cab. So for my good deed, I get ...

a driver that decided to share with me, nonstop, his recent revelation of a new philosophy of life.

arggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhh ;)

Rants and Raves on Cab Riding in DC

I haven't had a blog entry for a while dedicated to the various rants and raves of readers. So have fun.

Let's hear from you.

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Tips

So here we are weeks into meter world and I've found that the meter rate for most of my trips is about what I've paid before INCLUDING the tip. So now my question has been. Do I pay the meter AND more tip, or do I pay only meter and no tip - which was about the same as before?

I've found that I really have started reacting to the ride. I used to tip automatically. Now I leave a tip if the driver was good, the cab clean, the ride undramatic. But where the driver's been a pain in the ass, the cab a mess, or the ride a herky-jerky stop/speed-fest full of honking and screaming, I just go with the meter rate.

Monday, June 02, 2008

Where's Yours' Apostrophie's?

In a break from the DC Meters story, let's take a look at a story from the Sun in Great Britain, about cab driver Laurence Kirk who couldn't get a renewed license because he didn't pass a new test. Not on geography, or fares, or how to treat passengers -- things that might be important to know as a driver. But on English grammar.
Laurence Kirk whose cabbie licence from six years ago had expired, was quizzed about apostrophes in a story on football.

But he only got 60 per cent of the questions correct – and a pass was 70.

Stunned Laurence said: “When I got my licence six years ago I filled in some forms, had a medical and a driving test to prove I knew the area and they passed me.”

He said the new rules of Bournemouth Council, in Dorset, were “barmy”, adding: “No one has asked me if I know Bournemouth or what I would do if approached by a drunk person – just where to put an apostrophe.”

Laurence, from Poole, must go on a GCSE English course before he can reapply.

Last night council licensing chief Steve Wright defended the test, saying it “allows us to assess candidates’ abilities”

We're no strangers to panic over language here, of course, although I have to say as long as the driver knows the city streets and how to get me where I need to go, I'm ok with him not knowing the finer points of English grammar.